


Ningyo no joō

by Weeaboocorpse



Series: A Thousand Leagues with the Sunny [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, One Shot, Other, Real Life Mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21798355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weeaboocorpse/pseuds/Weeaboocorpse
Summary: A course of rough seas had pushed the Sunny far off of its desired path.  After what felt like an eternity, the sky finally cleared enough for Franky to lead the ship to a small island. Nami lowered her binoculars, from her position on the foremast she could make out the general shape of the island. Her curiosity piqued, she had heard nothing about this island from any of its neighboring islands, nor had it been shown on any of the local maps she had studied each one they visited.
Series: A Thousand Leagues with the Sunny [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1198825
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	Ningyo no joō

A course of rough seas had pushed the Sunny far off of its desired path. After what felt like an eternity, the sky finally cleared enough for Franky to lead the ship to a small island. Nami lowered her binoculars, from her position on the foremast she could make out the general shape of the island. Her curiosity piqued, she had heard nothing about this island from any of its neighboring islands, nor had it been shown on any of the local maps she had studied each one they visited. Making her way down the tower, she hoped she could find a high enough spot to see the island in its entirety.

When they officially docked, Luffy immediately wanted to leave the ship. Sanji had to grab him by the back of his shirt in order to force him back onto the ship. He was grossly overdue for cleaning duty and Sanji would be damned if he let Luffy slip out of his work again. Nami decided to offer up herself to explore the island, itching to sketch out the island. 

“Ready to go Nami?” Robin said. As soon as she heard about the mysterious island she immediately asked to accompany the younger redhead. Plus it had been ages since the two of them went on an adventure together. 

“I’m ready,” Nami said, tightening the straps of her bag as her hair bounced with the movement. 

The two women made their way through the port of the small fishing village. A small sign read the name Mataram. Merchants seemed to be in a rush for some reason. Nami stuck close to Robin, unsure of what dangers could potentially lurk on the island. 

“Are you girls lost?” a voice said. The pair turned around and faced an older woman. Her clear blue eyes seemed to stare right through the two pirates. They paused to look at each other but the woman continued. “What brought you here? What is it that you girls do? ” The old woman asked, Walking closer to the younger two. 

“We work on a ship,” Robin said, her intuition telling her that the less the two knew about each other the better. “I’m an Archeologist.” 

“And I’m the ship’s navigator.” Nami chimed in, peeking out from Robin’s back. “We had no idea that this island even existed, it isn’t shown on any map.” 

The old woman chuckled, “Yes, it would seem that way. We happen to like being isolated.” 

“This can’t be…” Robin thought. Her face seeming tense with thought. “This can’t be Wano, is it?”

“Oh heavens no!” the old woman burst out. “No that is much farther in the New World. Don’t scare me like that child.” The old woman put her hand on Robin’s shoulder in an attempt to steady herself. “They are much harsher to strangers than we are. We don’t mind strangers, we just prefer to be alone.” 

“We’re sorry to disturb you then,” Robin said, turning back towards the ship. 

“Calm down, child,” The old woman said, patting Robin on the back before she could have made her getaway. “Tourists are welcome, we just do not usually participate in trade.” 

“Did something happen?” Nami asked. 

“We received a bad shipment of apples from an island far away from here,” the woman said. “A lot of our people got sick, so the King introduced an embargo.” 

“Nyai Loro Kidul,” one of the villagers whispered as he made his way through the booths. 

“Excuse me?” Nami asked, pausing for a moment. 

“Queen of the… Summer Sea?” Robin tried her best to translate what the foreign phrase meant. 

“Very good,” the woman said. “She is one of the local Goddesses. She’s also called the Mermaid Queen.” 

“Oh!” Robin exclaimed. “I’ve read about her. She was a human princess who threw herself into a rough sea, then became a goddess, right?” 

“Yes!” The woman smiled. “She’s the patron goddess of that rocky sea you two ran into on your way here.” Nami grimaced, she remembered how hard it was to pilot their way through the rough rapids.

“I can’t recall her entire history, “Robin pondered, “I remember her marrying a prince.”

“Prince Senopati, he was actually the founder of our village,” the old woman smiled. “The legend dates back centuries, and a lot of families still tell the story of the Mermaid Queen to their children.” 

“But why would that man call me a goddess?” Nami asked, her head tilting to the side. 

“Maybe he thought you were beautiful,” The woman laughed. “But most likely because that shade of green is the goddesses’ favorite.” 

Nami felt her cheeks grow warm. Her fashion choices usually helped her gain a fair amount of attention, but no one had ever called her a goddess before. 

“What is it that you all are preparing for?” Robin asked, her eyes glancing around at the villagers as they shuffled their way through the square. 

“You two must be brimming with luck,” the old woman began to laugh. “The feast today is for Nyai Loro Kidul. Are you sure you aren’t really a goddess, miss?” The old woman looked at the young lady closely. 

“Not since I last checked,” Nami nervously chuckled, unsure of how serious this old woman was about her superstitions. 

“You two should join us for the feast,” The old woman faced the town square. “It should be starting soon and we have plenty of food.” 

The old woman lead the pair of women to the center of the village square. Various tables set up in the square, all surrounding a huge bonfire. Barrels of ale were strategically placed apart so that no matter where you sit, you were never too far away from that pale nectar. Booths, each one selling various types of food, made the air smell heavenly. Nami chuckled to herself, thankful that her captain didn’t tag along in this expedition. The money that she had placed in their food budget would survive another day. 

“Please make yourselves at home.” The old woman smiled. “Unfortunately I must leave you, I have duties that I have to attend to”

“Thank you for your time, ma’am,” Robin said, holding the older woman’s hand in order to show how grateful she was. 

“Of course, my dears. Please, enjoy,” the old woman smiled at them, “If I do not see you before the feast’s end, have a safe journey.” She finished, before making her way into the crowd. 

The pair of Strawhat women made their way to the booths, each one picking out something they had never heard of before (It was Robin’s idea). They made their way back to one of the tables before sitting down with their new local delicacies. One of the villagers came up to the pair, presenting a rather ornate looking jar. 

“For you,” the villager said, handing the jar to Nami.

“For me? Really?” Nami was surprised, normally people did not just offer to give her something. Something must be up. 

“Please accept my offering, my goddess,” the villager bowed even lower, Nami decided accepting the gift was better than having someone groveling over her. She smiled as the villager thanked her and backed away back into the crowd. 

“They must really think I’m that goddess.” Nami said, the tips of her ears were bright red. She slowly opened up the jar to see that it was full of a silky smooth lotion. “It would be nice to be a Queen“ Nami muttered, putting some of the lotion on her hands in order to really know what it smells like. 

“You still have a chance to be one,” Robin said, her chin resting on her propped up hand. The crowd around the pair seemed to get thicker. 

“What was that?” Nami said, the rush of the crowd brought with it every conversation of each person inside. “ I didn’t hear what you said.” Nami’s voice grew louder with the crowd. 

“Oh, nothing.” Robin laughed. 

It seemed that all the villagers needed was for Nami to accept one gift. That was all it took for them to descend on the navigator like a wild pack of admirers. Each one was carrying some form of offering, from fine creams, foods that Nami remembered seeing at the various booths, and perfume in such beautiful, detailed bottles. The bags that the two had brought with them on their outing were stuffed to the brim with gifts. So much so that it had reached a certain point they had to start politely declining the gifts. 

Their bellies full of food, the two women looked at each other with a look of defeat. It had all tasted so good, but their stomachs felt so full that it was uncomfortable to move. They decided to walk, Robin said something about it helping with digestion, or something. As she stood up, Nami could spot nine dancers close to one section of the tables. It seemed to be blocked off from the rest of the feast, curtains surrounding a group of finely dressed people with the dance happening in the middle of a large circle. For just a moment, Nami swore she could see an extra dancer make their way into the group. 

Neither of the women saw their older guide for the rest of the night. After some time, they decided to make their way back to the Sunny, each carrying the heavy bags of gifts from the gracious village. Chopper was the first one to notice they were back. His voice echoed throughout the port as the rest of the boys made their way to the deck to greet their fellow crewmates. Nami had pulled out some of the roasted meat she had stashed away, Luffy’s eyes immediately lit up as he literally shot himself over to the young woman. Robin eyed the pair, watching how Nami smiled as she handed the man some of her spoils. 

“They’re still so young,” She thought, remembering how large the gap in experience she had with the rest of the crew. Still, she liked being there to guide them along. It helped her feel like her crew was her family. 

The old woman watched from the highest point on the island. Looking up at the moon she muttered to herself, “It really is an odd coincidence.” The woman adjusted her bag of loot onto her back. The older villagers can differentiate between the true Nyai Loro Kidul and a fake. The Bedhaya was proof enough that they had located their true deity. That little pirate just happened to be gorgeous enough to make out like a bandit the ONE year she decided to manifest as an older woman on one of her visits. 

The Goddess liked this young Navigator. She and her crew would be all right. 

The sea was calmer leaving the island than it was arriving. Nami looked out from the back deck, watching the small island slowly fade into the horizon, for some reason, she could not shake the feeling that someone was staring back at her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Spirits Podcast for telling me about the story of the Mermaid Queen. I listened to the episode and spent weeks thinking about how to make it One Piece.


End file.
